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FORT MYERS, Fla. – Kennesaw State's
Manu Johnsen turned in a career-performance on Friday night that nearly carried the Owls to the Atlantic Sun Championship Game, but in a heartbreaker of a match, KSU lost a thriller 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-23) to the top-seed and host FGCU Eagles in the conference tournament semifinals. The loss, in the Owls' last-ever action in the ASUN before they move onto Conference USA next season, dropped KSU to 18-12 on the year while the Eagles moved to 25-6 and a berth in Saturday's title game.
OWL OF THE GAME: Johnsen did everything she could to get the Owls to the win, as she tied her career-high with 27 kills against the Eagles. This is the third time in her career she's posted 27 kills, and that's tied for second-most in school history, just one off the school mark. With her final kill of the night, that brought the Owls within 24-23 in the final set, Johnsen also tied the KSU single season kill record of 454.
THE RUNDOWN – After a slow start in the quarterfinal round, the Owls grabbed an early 3-1 lead in set one to put the pressure on the favored Eagles. The score would be tied four times but the Owls never trailed in the set, and a 4-0 run opened up a 16-11 edge to give KSU some distance on the way to the set victory. Set two was a one-point game at 11-10 until a 6-1 run put FGCU up 17-11 and they would close out the win for a 1-1 tie. The next two sets could have gone either way, and both were decided late. The Owls led 10-9 in set three before an 8-2 run for FGCU gave the Eagles a 17-12 edge. A 4-1 run late cut the deficit to 22-18 before FGCU closed out with a 25-19 win for a 2-1 edge. Set four saw the Owls jump out to an early 7-2 lead, and it was still a five-point lead for KSU at 10-5. FGCU slowly chipped away at the lead, and KSU's last advantage was 14-13 until a 3-0 spurt put the Eagles ahead for good. Down 23-20, the Owls scored twice, the second on a Johnsen kill, to close within 23-22. The teams then traded points, and with KSU serving facing match point down 24-23, FGCU's setter got the surprise kill for the winning point.
POSTGAME QUOTES
KSU HEAD COACH KEITH SCHUNZEL
"We're all crushed, but I'm proud as hell of this group and our effort in that match, and I hope our players are too. We fought and fought and kept fighting, but came up just a tiny bit short. I'm also incredibly proud of the growth and maturity we showed this season and all the things we overcame to even be in that match. We represented our jersey so well tonight."
NOTES
-Johnsen's 27 kills led all players.
Claire Parsons and
Olivia Burrage were next on the Owls with eight each.
-
Kourtney Brown paced KSU with 45 assists, while
Shelby Dennis finished with 21 digs.
-As a team, KSU hit .262 (56K-18E-145TA).
-Playing in her final match,
Emma Schurfranz posted seven kills, four digs and a team-high five blocks. Also playing in their final game as an Owl was Parsons, Dennis and
Lanie Vantrease.
